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Jose Prado-Carmona quickly blinks his reddened eyes and speaks softly about the anger and sadness that has consumed followers at the west-end San Lorenzo Anglican church since his arrest last month for heroin trafficking.
"I apologize," Prado-Carmona, 31, told the Star in an exclusive interview at the Maplehurst Detention Centre in Milton. "I'm sorry."

Until his arrest at Pearson International Airport, Prado-Carmona was an inspirational figure in the GTA's Hispanic community. He has no arms, having lost them at the collarbone years ago when he touched live electrical wires in his native Colombia, but in Toronto he became an active volunteer who raised money for charities.

In return, Rev. Hernan Astudillo and the San Lorenzo parish were at the core of a fundraising campaign that collected $37,000 to buy Prado-Carmona's electronic artificial arms.

But on Feb. 13, Prado-Carmona was arrested at Pearson airport after a visit to Colombia. Police said he had 800 grams of heroin worth $300,000 in his stomach.

He's due to appear in Brampton court March 25 but has been unable to raise the $75,000 bail.

He didn't discuss his arrest during the jailhouse interview. Wearing the orange jumpsuit of an inmate, he spoke on a telephone, separated from visitors by a sheet of clear Plexiglas.

For the past month, Prado-Carmona has been held in a segregated cell in the infirmary at Maplehurst. He has been kept out of the general inmate population because there's no way he could defend himself if an altercation broke out.

Prado-Carmona said he has had plenty of time to think and pray and hope over the past month. He said he wants a chance to redeem himself in the eyes of the community that helped him so much.

"People make mistakes," Prado-Carmona said. "I'll try to be the best person I can be, when I get out."

When he first arrived at the parish four years ago, Prado-Carmona had no money, but he quickly became involved at the evangelical church in the Dufferin St. and Lawrence Ave. area.He played drums with his feet during church services and translated papers for Astudillo. Soon he became a neighbourhood celebrity, doing charity work through his volunteer show With No Frontiers, that aired Saturdays on a community radio station.

Now, Astudillo plans to bring the jailed man inspirational writings by Jean Vanier and Thomas Merton to help focus his thoughts.

The Toronto priest spoke about Prado-Carmona last Sunday in his sermon. He didn't mention him by name, but everyone in the church knew who he meant as he talked about the power and necessity of forgiveness.

"Many people came to my parish, some of them crying," Astudillo said. "They say, `Father, we are humans and we understand he's a victim.'"

Astudillo said he also has grappled with feelings of anger and sadness after hearing of the arrest.

"I was crying for a week," Astudillo said. "He was an inspiration.... Initially I had confused emotions.... It makes me very sad, very sad."

He said the days of Lent leading up to Easter are a particularly poignant time for reflection, since the message of the season is that of cleansing, redemption and rebirth.

"Lent is a time of forgiveness," he said. "Lent is the time to clean our hearts."
Astudillo said he's sickened at the thought of someone pushing potentially fatal drugs down Prado-Carmona's throat before the flight left for Toronto.

"Now they're using the handicapped, seniors, babies," Astudillo said. "I think he was used because he's vulnerable."

RCMP Cpl. Cathy McCrory, who works at Pearson, said she knows of traffickers using pregnant women to smuggle drugs by having them swallow drug-filled condoms to pass through customs.

Stomach acids can cause a condom to break en route, risking the life of the carrier, she added.

"I think it's a lot more dangerous than (the mules) are led to believe," McCrory said. "We've had people die ... It's a dirty business."

Astudillo said his congregation hasn't lost the spirit of giving, even though many people said they felt betrayed when they heard of the arrest. Last Sunday alone, in four hours, $5,133 was donated to Ecuador's flood victims.

The priest added he still feels the Prado-Carmona fundraising campaign was a positive and wonderful thing, providing someone in dire need with artificial arms. He considers them symbols of how the community embraced Prado-Carmona.

Generosity for pure reasons cannot be a bad thing, he added.

"When you give from the heart, it is like a flower in the summer," he said.
He said he still thinks Prado-Carmona is a good person who will overcome his troubles to do more for the community.